A COUNCIL boss has stressed there isn’t any “imminent danger” of a Teesside authority going bust during the coronavirus crisis.

Middlesbrough Council chief executive Tony Parkinson said it was “impossible” to calculate the final cost the Covid-19 pandemic would have on councils.

But he believed the Government messages he’d received had been consistent – and it would “make good” any “reasonable” coronavirus-related expenditure.

Mr Parkinson said: “The Government will not let any council, in effect, go bankrupt – it just won’t.

“They have been very clear – if any council is close to issuing a section 114 notice, they should be contacting the Government.

“We’re not in any imminent danger in Middlesbrough – we’ve had sufficient to deal with what we’ve had to do so far.

“But what we don’t know is what the longer term impact is going to be – and we’re in discussions with the Government about that.”

At the weekend, it was reported more than a dozen councils across the country were considering issuing section 144 notices.

These last resort mechanisms are only issued in the gravest of circumstances when a council is deemed “unsustainable”.

Last week, Labour sounded a warning that councils could face a financial black hole from the pandemic – with fears cuts of 20 per cent would need to be made to balance the books at some authorities.

The Government has granted £3.2bn to councils in two “tranches” to deal with the pandemic – as well as an extra £600m for care homes.

However, there have been concerns about how the money has been parcelled out.

Middlesbrough Council received just over £9m from the £3.2bn pot.

Mr Parkinson said he felt “comfortable” that the government would reimburse the cost of dealing with the emergency on the back of talks with Teesside MP Simon Clarke, but he explained there were other costs to factor in.

The officer added: “We got £9m from the two tranches of government money – I think that will be enough to deal with the direct cost (of coronavirus), but there are four elements of the cost to councils.

“There is the direct cost, there is lost income, which will be really significant, there is the inability to deliver some of our saving plans, and the cost of recovery to get everything back up and on its feet.

“Yes, we need to sort out the cost of covid in the short-to-medium term – and what the Government will and won’t give us.

“But in the longer term, it’s back to the age old argument about need and deprivation.

“It’s the need for a longer term strategy on the funding of local government, and recognising those factors more strongly than the current funding formula currently does.”

On top of huge demand on social care services, councils have faced a number of lost income sources with parking charges waived across Teesside and leisure centres shut.

A slow-down in housebuilding is also forecast to deal a double blow to councils – with fewer taxpayers moving in than expected and a lower “new homes bonus” from the Government.

Mr Parkinson joined Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston to call for more government money to deal with the crisis earlier this month.

However, the chief executive said the cost of the pandemic was “really complex” – conceding the government was “making it up as it went along” in the same way the council was.

He added: “Are we concerned about finance? Absolutely. We’re in constant dialogue with Simon (Clarke) about the financial impact of covid.

“But I’ve not quoted him a figure – I’ve quoted him areas of pressure that will need to be considered – and he’s been open to those conversations so far.

“No-one knows what recovery is going to cost.”

Middlesbrough Council has forecast it will take up to three years to recover from the impacts of Covid-19.

But, given some of the town’s poor health indicators and levels of poverty, the ramifications could well be felt for longer.

Council chiefs on Teesside still have half an eye on two pots of government money unveiled before the crisis – the Future High Streets Fund and Towns Fund.

Mr Parkinson said the recovery process from coronavirus would be “absolutely critical” to Middlesbrough – and wanted these two programmes “accelerated” to help the town’s exit from the pandemic.

“I don’t need revenue – I need the £45m from those two because then we can get on with economic recovery,” he added.

“(The recovery) is critical for the health and well-being of communities and businesses – but it’s also critical for the prosperity of the town.

“We’ve had a few years now of pushing on the economic regeneration front and we’ve done well I think.

“Ski centres and stuff are still going on – and we’re still making progress,

“But getting Middlesbrough into a position where it’s more of an economic entity is key to the town’s prosperity and the future sustainability of the council in all honesty.

“We need more economically active people living in the town and more businesses in the town.”

Stockton Council has also weighed in on Government funding in recent weeks.

Leader Cllr Bob Cook sent a letter to the Government last month to say thanks for the £11m it had offered – while warning it still may not be enough.

Officers are still crunching the numbers to work out how much the authority is set to lose – and Cllr Cook said Stockton hadn’t lost as much as others elsewhere.

But lost income from Tees Active leisure centres, fewer planning applications and no parking charges remain worries.

Cllr Cook said: “They said don’t worry about the money – spend what you need to spend and we’ll reimburse you. That’s what they need to stick to – within reason obviously.

“We’re only spending what we need to spend but it’s over and above what we would spend normally – particularly with the loss of income.”